To move as freely as possible in space is a constant concern for mankind. However, freedom of movement does not rule out relinquishing some for the sake of comfort in the search for performance or even a kind of serenity and safety during a trip in order to avoid any risk of distraction while mountain hiking, for example, or any disappointment from not having been able to reach a remarkable viewpoint for lack of knowledge of a route or site. Many solutions, from the most basic to the most sophisticated, have been developed in order to achieve this goal, with varying degrees of success.
To begin with, route marking solutions exist for the city or the mountains. Directional signs are physically put in place at regular intervals in order to provide a guide or a visual aid on a trip or route. In the mountains, markers are affixed to the ground, to rocks, and/or to trees in order to indicate a recommended hiking or cycling route. This type of solution requires a relatively static and sustainable definition of the routes. Indeed, such markers and/or signs require human intervention in order to implement any change in route. What is more, a hiker may only become aware of an erroneous orientation at a very late stage, at the risk of finding himself in an unfortunate position or exhausted by the necessity of making an unplanned detour.
Primarily in the context of a road or motorway, many drivers of vehicles use a complementary solution that is much more sophisticated than markers or signage on the ground. For instance, an operator of a motorized land vehicle such as an automobile or a transporter for people or goods may, while traveling, consult a screen that is positioned within the passenger compartment of the vehicle that displays a travel chart in real time in the form of a dynamic roadmap and provides orientation guidance in the form of text, a mixture of graphics and text, and sound over the course of a route. For this purpose, a vehicle is equipped with an electronic navigational aid near the dashboard that may or may not have a touch screen and has a sufficient display size that is generally of the order of ten to twenty centimeters diagonally, so that the driver can follow and consult the roadmap visually and comfortably as it updates in real time, admittedly by diverting some of his attention away from driving. Such equipment also includes a computer and satellite communication means for spatially localizing the vehicle. Before departing, the driver can obtain information about a desired place of destination and, according to configuration parameters stored in the memory of the equipment, and reflecting certain preferences of the driver, such as the recommendation of the shortest route in terms of distance or time, the most economical route in terms fuel efficiency, toll charges, etc., the calculator of the equipment determines a relevant route and then provides routing information using graphics and sounds along the route. Some solutions, such as those described in documents EP 2690406 A1 and WO 00/18612, for example, make it possible to repeat or shift all or part of certain graphical orientation information, which is generally provided by a console or a central screen within a driver's compartment, to side display devices, at least to which the driver of an appropriately equipped land vehicle naturally directs his eyes during maneuvers, such as rearview mirrors. Such solutions are reserved for the automobile and translate into rearview mirrors that are costly and dedicated to a given vehicle. More minimalist versions exist in the form of portable equipment that is dedicated to navigation, or as software applications that are intended to adapt a smart mobile phone that is hosting such an application. Such mobile equipment that has been adapted in this way offers a similar solution in terms of functionality while providing mobility, enabling the user to not return his navigation assistance equipment residing permanently within a given vehicle. Such mobile devices are generally used along with appropriate support means that ensure that they are positioned and maintained close to the driver's field of vision. For instance, supports provide releasable attachment to an air vent of a dashboard, to a side window, or to a windshield of the vehicle by means of a suction cup. However, such solutions are expensive and require sophisticated and fragile equipment. In addition, manufacturers or publishers of such solutions are constantly seeking to improve the performance, graphical rendering, and the wealth of information provided—so much so that the user must sometimes make an intellectual effort in order to mentally extract the minority of information that is relevant and necessary for orientation among a multitude of secondary information, which is likely in some cases to divert his attention away from his primary mission of driving a vehicle.
Although some manufacturers of vehicles having onboard navigation assistance equipment attempt to position, physically or virtually, the screen providing such information such that it generally reproduces this information in a driver's nominal field of vision when the driver is watching the road, the visual information remains concentrated in one and the same small and limited area of the visual field. Moreover, and in practice, a driver is usually and regularly forced to move out of his natural position for viewing the road in order to direct his eyes toward the screen of the navigational aid and consult the information provided, at the risk of not anticipating an obstacle or losing control of the vehicle and causing an accident.
Other means of transport or modes of travel do not allow for the use of such navigation assistance devices. This is the case, for example, with walking, riding a bicycle, or, more generally, riding a two-wheeler, whether motorized or not. Some operators have proposed positioning a mobile device like those mentioned above on the frame, the handlebars, or the stem of a bicycle. For this purpose, suitable supports have been developed to hold a mobile phone on a bicycle, for example, or even a dedicated mobile device of reduced size compared to what is found in automobiles. However, this type of electronic equipment is not intended to be resistant to bad weather and falls. It can also be easily stolen by a malicious third party. A hiker usually prefers to store his valuable equipment in a waterproof pocket and consult it during breaks over the course of his journey, at the risk of inadvertently deviating from the selected route. Other equipment that is waterproof and more robust than a smart mobile phone has been proposed. They comprise a screen that is capable of displaying figurative symbols such as arrows, for example. With a diameter or radius of a few centimeters, the dimensions of the screen are modest so as not to pose a hindrance to the user. Alternatively, some equipment is similar to a compass that can be positioned in the center of the handlebars. A moving luminous point on the periphery of a circular dial indicates a relative direction. Other “compasses,” such as those described in WO 2006/088424 A1, for example, make it possible to navigate a route marked only by the presence of certain land- and seamarks. Such a solution can be used in marine navigation, for example. However, such a visual display remains centralized and is ultimately low in terms of precision and semantics.
When such equipment is used by a pedestrian, he has no alternative but to hold it by hand, on one of his arms, on his belt, or on a garment.
Be that as it may, it remains the responsibility of the hiker or cyclist to consult, wisely and at the appropriate time, his navigational aids to read the orientation information. Between two readings, the hiker might deviate from the route. In order for a hiker to not put himself in danger, it is strongly recommended that such equipment be consulted only during a stop or break. This is because the hiker is not able to read and translate the information provided by the equipment such that it is instantaneously intelligible, so he may fall due to a lack of concentration if he consults his equipment while in motion. In order to prevent the user from forgetting to consult the equipment, or even to prevent progress from being slowed by excessively frequent consultations, some equipment round out the visual information with sound messages. In order not to pose a nuisance for the entourage, such a complementary solution requires the use of headphones or a headset. Wearing this type of accessory may be uncomfortable for hiking or competing, and listening to messages may be considered invasive to a walker who is seeking tranquility and silence or to an athlete who is trying to concentrate. Some have tried to design clothes, such as a jacket, such that they include means capable of providing orientation guidance using lights. This is the case of the solution described in WO 2016/074689 A1, for example. Such a solution has the dual benefit of freeing the user to carry a compass and providing lateralized information that can be intuitively and easily assimilated by the human. Within the garment, a central electronic device comprising two light-emitting diodes controls the illumination of the first or second diode according to the geographical positioning provided by a satellite tracking system operated by a mobile phone that is in communication with the central electronic device and introduced into a pocket of the garment that is provided for this purpose. By means of optical fibers, the light signal of each diode can be routed to the distal portions of the sleeves of the jacket. Such a solution is restrictive, however, because it is reserved to and integrated into the garment that is worn. If the user has to remove the garment or, conversely, to cover it with a second, impermeable garment or with a warmer one, depending on weather conditions, the light indications can no longer be utilized by the user. Furthermore, the light signal provided by such a garment is succinct to a fault, since it consists only of two light sources reduced to their simplest expression.
Far from the context of leisure or competition, another area of research involves providing assistance to visually impaired people to improve their mobility. To complement, or even supplant, the use of a rod to avoid hitting an obstacle, document WO 2007/105937 discloses an electronic belt comprising a plurality of vibrating means distributed around the wearer's abdominal belt. The different vibrating means are controlled by a computer in response to indications or commands emanating from a navigation assistance device that cooperates with the computer. By means of a vibratory language, the wearer of the belt can interpret orientation instructions transmitted by this or that vibrating means. However, such a solution is cumbersome and does not lend itself very well to use by a sighted hiker, because it requires some learning to be able to interpret precise and complex indications. In addition, a hiker on a mountain bike may not perceive the vibrations drowned in the jolts caused by rough terrain.
A hiker therefore has no other choice at present than to resort to navigation assistance equipment that is poorly adapted to his leisure activity, requiring him to consult a screen reproducing generally graphical indications outside of his natural field of vision, at the risk of going astray and unnecessarily increasing the length of a route due to an inappropriate frequency of consultation, or even falling or being injured due to a loss of concentration related to reading and/or interpreting an unintuitive instruction while underway.
In summary, no technical and realistic solution exists at present that offers equipment that is suited particularly to outdoor recreation, distilling orientation guidance for the hiker that is non-invasive and particularly intuitive to good effect and at appropriate times, all with great precision for a limited budget, making mass deployment conceivable.